Services
I offer a number of professional services that can be tailored to suit institutions, organisations, and individuals. To discuss, please contact me.
Lectures and Public Speaking
I have extensive portfolio of public speaking experience, delivering lectures, workshops, and tutorials to audiences of students, academics, amateur naturalists, and the general public.
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Some examples of previous talks delivered based on my own research can be found here.
Ecological Surveying
As a field naturalist with nearly two decades of practical experience, I can offer a range of bespoke ecological recording and surveying services, particularly of insects.
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This can include: rapid site assessments; determining the presence or absence of rare, threatened, or protected species; generating site biodiversity estimates; identifying valuable habitats or areas; informing site-specific conservation efforts; and, monitoring temporal changes in the local abundance of target species.
Public Outreach, Engagement, and Training
I am passionate about communicating science to a broad audience, and sparking enthusiasm for biology in the next generation of academics.
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I have taken part in and organised a number of public engagement activities and can assist in the coordination and delivery of outreach events for all ages. These could include workshops, hands-on activities, course design, lesson planning, and training sessions for the identification of specific insect groups.
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Since 2023, I have organised and chaired an annual lecture series in Edinburgh, supported by the Linnean Society of London and University of Edinburgh. With topics ranging from early land plant evolution to co-operation in the natural world, and featuring field-leading experts and researchers.
Curation of Natural History Collections
I have been collecting and preserving natural history specimens for as long as I have been interested in biology. I believe that this hands-on experience is of incalculable value as biological training.
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Specimens are irreplaceable records of the natural world and new scientific uses for historical collections are constantly being found. It is more important than ever not only that we continue to maintain the natural history collections that have been passed down to us by previous generations of biologists, but that we also continue to add to them in a responsible manner.
Based on my extensive curatorial experience dealing with biological voucher material, I can: triage natural history collections for local museums, institutions, and private individuals; report on the state of collections and offer advice on future conservation; sort, database, record, identify, and curate collections; and, collaborate on the creation of public displays.
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You can read more about my curatorial work in the University of Edinburgh's Natural History Collections in my report to the trustees and in my blog Missives from the Museum.